Finished!

A fourteen year journey has come to an end.

I met Mina working in a social support capacity at a primary school in the Northern Suburbs of Hobart. She was new to the school, had no English and looked terrrified. Her teacher wasn't allowing any of her language in the classroom. Two of us sat down with her and used google translate to connect.

Turns out that she spoke Farsi, and had fled Afghanistan / Iran and had made it to Tasmania. Over that year we helped her with English and she taught us her own langugage, and laughed at us as we butchered it.

We learnt so much about her, and it was beautiful to watch her become a confident young lady, and such a key part of the school.

I don't know where Mina is today and I wish I did.

I'd love to tell her that she was the inspiration for my own character in this novel - My Mina. There's something special about this story. Two kids trying to find their place in a world that doesn't want them, fighing back when the world closes in around them and just trying to find somewhere they belong.

So let's keep it simple. How about I share a small section of The King and the jester with you.

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Mina wasn’t sure where the darkness ended and she began. She lifted her fingers to her face, but her hand was no more. She was the invisible girl, and she couldn’t decide if she was really there or a part of somebody else’s strange dream.

Georgi struck a match, and the tiny flame tore through the darkness. So small, and yet her eyes were fixed on the small orange flicker that pushed back the night. Georgi’s toothy grin appeared in the glow. “See, Mina?” His voice shook. “Nothing to worry about.” But the match slipped through his trembling fingers, twisting and tumbling to the floor. Mina lunged for it but to no avail, and as the falling spark was snuffed out, two sets of glowing green eyes appeared from the shadows! 

Georgi and Mina screamed and clutched each other as the darkness devoured them. Mina could feel Georgi’s pulse racing in his shoulders, and her breath came in short sharp bursts. Georgi reached for another match with trembling fingers, and groaned as it leapt from his hands and spilled to the floor.

“Georgi, those eyes!” she whispered.

Georgi tried to speak, but the words caught in his throat. His mind painted the monsters behind the eyes – hideous, hairy, vile creatures that grew taller with each dark second. He took a deep breath and shook the little box of matches. Two, perhaps three. He reached for one, struck it once, twice, and with a hiss, the little match burst to life. 

He held it up to the lantern and watched as the flame swallowed the mantle, pushing back the shadows and casting a wide circle of light around their feet. Georgi hoisted the lantern, and the owners of the green glowing eyes flicked their long tails and scurried away. 

“Rats! Those eyes, Mina. I thought I was going to be eaten alive!” 

“Some ghost waiting to jump us.” 

“Ghosts? I’m not afraid of ghosts!” At that moment, a rat scurried over Georgi’s feet and he screamed, springing from one foot to the other. He threw his hands in the air and the lantern slipped from his fingers. Mina made a furious dive for the precious light and caught hold of the lantern a hair’s breadth from the hay-covered floor. 

She raised an eyebrow. “Not afraid of ghosts, huh? You were just doing the rat dance because…?” 

Georgi shrugged. “Yup, the rat dance. I do it every time I find a new secret passageway behind a swinging board.” 

“And how many of those have you found?”

He grinned. “All one of them. Come on, let’s check it out.” 

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Planning's begun for book two and three in this series, and I can't wait to share it with you aswell.

Matt